Real Leaders Point The Way And Then Give Others The Credit

I hold this to be true: the best leaders are not famous.

When I asked a class to talk about someone they considered a great leader, all of them identified leaders in history, or famous business personalities. Names like Gandhi, Trudeau, and Trump were mentioned. Then they asked me whom I considered a leader.

I said my grandfather was a great leader. In North America, hardly anyone knows my grandfather. But he was a visionary, and he didn’t brag about it. Decades after his passing, we’re discovering how much he’s contributed to the town he grew up in.

Actually, I told them, anyone could be a leader. The organizer of a non-profit organization, a school principal, a small business owner, and even your own mother, can be a leader. You see, it does not matter how famous a person gets, or how high up an organization a person climbs. It is about how the person influences the people around him/her in a positive and uplifting way to expand their awareness about themselves and life as a whole.

So-called leaders like Donald Trump and Lee Iaccoca are always talking about themselves. “See what I’ve done. I’m a great leader.” If they make mistakes, they blame someone else or the environment.

The real leaders don’t even identify themselves as such. They just do what they think makes a difference. They apologize for mistakes they make – they are accountable. They don’t take credit; they pass it on to the people who helped. They don’t call themselves great leaders. Someone else will along the way. Perhaps most importantly, they always choose service over self-interest; they always put others first. My wish is to find and recognize the leaders in our midst.